Did Adam and Eve observe the seventh day Sabbath?

The weekly seventh-day Sabbath has frequently been considered an institution of the Jewish dispensation, but the Scriptures declare that it was instituted more than two millenniums before the first Israelite was born. Here are some Bible clues that Adam and Eve observed the Sabbath:

The first clue is found in the words “God blessed the Sabbath” (Genesis 2:3). Here we see that Adam and Eve needed the Sabbath rest blessing just as all of God’s children throughout history need it. Adam and Eve needed time away from their daily work to be with their Creator. Jesus Himself declared, “The sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27), from Adam and Eve’s time to us today.

Another clue to Sabbath observance is also found in Genesis 2:3. It says that God “sanctified it.” The act of sanctification consisted in a declaration that the day was holy or set apart for “holy purposes” and worship.

Another clue is found in the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) which starts with the word “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God….For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” Here God wants us to remember something that He had already made known to man at creation (Gen. 2:1-3). The Sabbath commandment points us back to the perfect world of Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:31; 2:1–3) and reminds us of the time when the Creator will again “make all things new” (Rev. 21:5).

Another clue is that the law of God doesn’t change from generation to generation. For the law is a reflection of God’s own character and will. Jesus affirmed, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one not or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

Another clue is found in Isaiah 66:22-23 where it says, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.” The Bible declares that Sabbath observance will never end. It started at creation and will continue throughout eternity for it is a memorial of God’s creative acts.